REVELATION #8--- CHAPTERS 11 AND 12

 

  

Chapter One hundred-thirty-seven:

The REVELATION of Jesus Christ #8

Chapters 11 and 12 CHAPTER ELEVEN Chapter 11 and 12 are INSET chapters. They go back and tell us the story of the last 42 months of this age, the two witness in Jerusalem preaching the truths of God, during the time when Jerusalem shall be under the Gentile Beast power. And in chapter 12 we have the MAIN outline of the true Church of God from way back in Jacob and Joseph's time, to the last time of "time" (singular) "times" (plural) and "half a time" - 42 months or 1260 days. This first verse some have used to try and prove that in the end times the Jews will build a Temple in Jerusalem, and start again to offer animal sacrifices. First, this teaching is based on a few Scriptures in the Bible that have not be understood correctly. Second, the fact is the Dome of the Rock would have to be removed, and this the Islamic people would never allow. Third, the animal-rights people would be up in arms and would probably burn down such a physical Temple, as quickly as it went up. The old Bible Commentator Albert Barnes in his "Notes on the New Testament" gives the truth of the matter. Quote: "The measuring of the temple, verses 1,2. A reed, or measuring stick, is given to John, and is directed to arise and measure the temple. This direction embraces two parts: (a) he was to measure, that is, to take an exact estimate of the temple, of the altar, and of the true worshippers; (b) he was carefully to separate this, in his estimate, from the outward court, which was to be left out and to be given to the Gentiles, to be trodden under foot, forty-two months, that is, three years and a half, or twelve hundred and sixty days - a period celebrated in the book of Daniel as well as in this book...... RISE AND MEASURE THE TEMPLE OF GOD. That is, ascertain its true dimensions with the reed in your hand. Of course this could not be understood of the LITERAL temple - whether standing or not - for the exact measure of that was sufficiently known. (and if literal with some literal temple in Jerusalem at the last time, then according to this, John was to literally measure the people as well. Can you imagine someone going about literally measuring people inside the temple, as well as the temple itself - a little bit or big bit, crazy thinking I would say - Keith Hunt). The word, then, must be used of something which the temple would denote or represent, and this would properly be the church, as considered as the abode of God on earth. Under the old dispensation, the Temple at Jerusalem was that abode; under the new, that particular residence was transferred to the Church and God is represented as dwelling in it.... Thus the word is undoubtedly used here, and the simple meaning that he who is thus addressed is directed to take an accurate estimate of the true church of God....If the direction be understood figuratively, as applicable to the Christian church, the work to be done would be to obtain an exact estimate or measurement of what the true church was - as distinguished from all other bodies of men.... BUT THE COURT WHICH IS WITHOUT THE TEMPLE. Which is outside of the court proper....There is undoubtedly reference here to the "court of the Gentiles" as it was called among the Jews - the outer court of the Temple to which the Gentiles has access....In forming an estimate of those who, according to the Hebrew notions, were true worshippers of God, only those who would be regarded as such, who had the privilege of access to the inner court, and to the altar.....those who had no nearer access than that court (the court of the Gentiles), would be omitted; that is, they would not be reckoned as necessarily any part of those who were regarded as the people of God..... FOR IT IS GIVEN TO THE GENTILES. It properly appertains to them as their own,. Though near the temple, and included in the general range of building, yet it does not pertain to those who worship there, but to those who are regarded as heathen and strangers....They occupied it, not as the people of God, but as those who were WITHOUT the true church, and who did not appertain to its real communion..... AND THE HOLY CITY. The whole holy city - not merely the outer court of the Gentiles which is said to be given to them, nor the Temple as such, but the ENTIRE holy city. There is no doubt that the words "holy city" LITERALLY refers to Jerusalem......" End Quote Indeed, the first verse is setting aside the true people of God at the OUTSET of the "forty two months" (verse 2), when the holy city will be under the control and direction of the Gentile Beast power. It will NOT CONTROL the people of God. They shall REMAIN FAITHFUL to the faith once delivered to the saints, even if some of them must die for their faith. Such it has always been when religious persecutions came over the centuries past, and so it must be again, as we shall see in chapter 12. God's people will be accurately ascertained, measured according to the Holy Temple they are as the body of Christ. The Gentiles cannot rule over them so as to make them give up their faith of Jesus and obedience to the commandments of God (see Rev.14:12). It is given for the Gentiles to rule the literal city of God, Jerusalem, for the last 42 months of this age or 1260 days. During that time, the Lord will have TWO witnesses LIVING and PREACHING in Jerusalem. They are of old represented by the two olive trees and the two candle sticks standing before God in heaven. They have been there all along (from the distant past of time) - see also Zechariah 4:3. We have seen in the letters of Paul that God knew His plan for mankind before the earth came into being. Jesus we saw had been called to do His salvation work on this earth, before man was created, before the foundations of the earth. See 1 Peter 1:18-20 for that truth. The two olive trees and the two candlesticks in heaven have pointed to the two witnesses that would come to Jerusalem, during the last 42 months of this age (verses 1-4). Now, notice the POWER these two witnesses will have. If anyone tries to kill them, they will say the word and fire will destroy their enemies. They will have the power to shut up heaven so that it does not rain during the time of their prophecy and preaching. They will have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with plagues, as often as they see necessary (verses 5,6). All this going on in the hands of the two final open to the world witnesses, as well as that which pertains to the opening of the 6 seals we have been seeing. This last 42 months of history for this age, will make any of the science-fiction movies of Hollywood seem like Walt Disney cartoons. When they shall have finished their work God sets before them, the Beast power (with the man "beast" - military leader, and the "false prophet" religious leader) of Europe will be allowed to kill them. Their dead bodies will lay in the street of Jerusalem, where our Lord was crucified (verses 7-8). Their bodies will lay there for three and one half days, just so the world can see them dead in the street (verse 9). Look at verse 9 and 10! The DECEPTION the world will be in, well nothing, will compare to it. You think we have great deception today with Islam, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and whatever else the world is deceived into following. The deception in the last 42 months leading up to Christ's return, will be WILD, just unmatched. You will have the two witnesses proclaiming the truths of God, and performing GREAT MIRACLES, and when they are finally killed, the people of the earth will REJOICE, make merry, and SEND GIFTS to each other, because the torment they plagued people with shall be over. You talk about deception! This is the DEPTH of Satan's deception. I suppose the "false prophet" will have deceived the world into believing the Lord's two end-time witnesses to truth and righteousness, will be from Satan, while he is from God. Remember Revelations says the false prophet is able to work miracles. The world will be TWISTED up-side-down. They will have it all backwards. The religious power of the West will have people believing the true saints of God are the heretics and from Satan, while the religious/political Beast power is from God. After three and one half days the two witnesses will be raised up back to life again (verse 11) and yes, I guess great fear will come on them that see it all happen. Do not make the mistake of supposing that Jesus will come AFTER three days and a half that the two witnesses are laying dead in the street of Jerusalem. Do not make the mistake of thinking the RESURRECTION to immortality takes place when the two witnesses are raised up back to life. The verse DOES NOT SAY THAT! The witnesses will have the Spirit of life in them, but the Lord Jesus does not say it is immortal glorified life. So it could be that the two witnesses will be raised back to flesh and blood life ONLY. Yes, a voice does shout out for them to come up to heaven, and they do, while their enemies behold it all. But again, this may only be a physical miracle raising them into the FIRST heaven only and carrying them away to where only the Lord knows. The last verses of the book of Daniel give us MORE than 1260 days. Daniel will STAND (be resurrected) at the END "of the days" mentioned in verse 12 of chapter 12. Be careful RIGHT TO THE END to not set dates! Jesus taught us that NO ONE, not even He Himself, knows the DAY or HOUR of his return to this planet earth. At the same hour of these two witnesses being raised to life, there will be a GREAT earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell (Jerusalem that is), and in that earthquake were slain 7,000 persons, and finally SOME gave glory to God. We have come in verse 14 in the story flow, to the FINISH of the SECOND WOE. ONE MORE IS TO YET COME! Our story flow continues with verse 15 to 19. It is the OVERVIEW of the SEVENTH TRUMPET, the THIRD WOE. This is the long awaited for, SEVENTH AND LAST TRUMPET! The long waited gloriously LAST TRUMPET, when the Kingdom of God is to come to this earth, when Jesus is to return and the kingdoms of this world shall become the KINGDOMS of our Lord, and of His Christ, and shall REIGN for ever and ever (verse 15). The 24 elders before the throne of God, got up from their seats and "fell upon their faces, worshipping God; and saying: 'We give thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who is, and was, and is to come; because you have used Your great power and has reigned. The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come; and the time of the dead that they should be judged, and that You should reward Your servants and prophets, and those who fear Your name, small and great; and should destroy those who are destroying the earth'" (verses 16-18).  It is the time for the resurrection of the saints, the children of God. The judgment and rewards given to the resurrected sons and daughters of God are really the one and same thing. I ask the reader to see my study called "The Truth about Judgment Day." The Lord Jesus will come to make war and punish those who are destroying the earth. This is the time when what Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 will come to pass. You may want to see that section again in this NT Bible Story. At this time the Temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in the Temple the ark of His testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and great hail (verse 19). A mighty heavenly miracle taking place here, the wording suggests that the opening of the Temple of God in heaven could be seen by those on earth. That would indeed be a revealing and a miracle. We need to remember that this section of the Revelation, is within the "story flow" but at the same time it is only an "overview" of the LAST trumpet. The revelation of Jesus will in coming passages, give us the full details of all that will happen when this SEVENTH trumpet or THIRD woe takes place. CHAPTER 12 A "woman" in prophecy can and often does, represent "a church" (see chapter 19:7, 8). Here in verse one, we are taken back to Genesis 37:9-11. The time of Joseph, his brothers and his mother and his father Jacob. That, for whatever reason is chosen by God to start us into the history of the true "people of God" or the woman Church of God (the true church from all ages is the BRIDE of Christ when the wedding feast will take place - again "woman" representing the bride church of Christ - Revelation 19:5-9). The true church is with child, a VERY SPECIAL child indeed. Then appears a great red dragon (interpreted for us in verse 9 - the Devil or Satan), having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his head (explained in my studies called "The Beasts of Revelation"). Briefly, it is the seven Holy Roman Empires (one more yet to come) and the 10 horns are the last 10 nation kings to give their power and voice to the last (the 7th resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire) "beast" man - political/military leader, who will try to fight Christ at His coming - see Revelation 17:12-15. Satan the Devil in history past, drew a third of the "stars" (representing angels) with him in his battle against God, which took place sometime BEFORE what we read of in Genesis chapter one. Those are inset words to clarify who this "red dragon" is. Now we are brought to the historic time of the Devil dragon standing before the woman Church of God, who was to give birth to the special man child, and the dragon was ready to devour that child as soon as it was born. This is the time of Christ's birth to the woman Mary, who was a member of the woman true church. The man child Jesus was born, the One who is to rule all nations with a rod of iron (verses 3-5). There can be no mistaking the meaning of all this. Satan had all the children two years and under killed at the time of Jesus' birth, in an attempt to kill the child Jesus. You'll remember that from the Gospel story. The child was caught up to God, and His throne (verse 5b). We are brought forward to the resurrected Christ and Him ascending to heaven to sit on the Father's right hand, and be our interceding High Priest (the book of Hebrews covers that important truth). The woman true church, flees into the "wilderness" where she has a "place" (singular - will explain why I give emphasis to that in a moment) prepared for her by God, who will feed her in safety, for 1260 days or day for a year = 1260 years. This was fulfilled from the year 554 A.D. to 1814 A.D. That period of time as covered in secular church history books (certainly the one I have) was when the false woman church, ruled by Satan, the Holy Roman Catholic church of the resurrected Holy Roman Empire, RULED with MIGHT and dictatorial POWER. Again all explained in my in-depth studies called "The Beasts of Revelation." Now why do I give emphasis to "place" - singular. It is because some in these days of the last decades of the 20th century and the first decades of the 21st century, tell you that the part of God's people who will find "protection" from death and the Beast power, will find protection in ONE specific location on this earth. They believe that somehow all God's true children will be all taken to ONE specific place on earth (they may not know where exactly, although some think they do) during and for the whole 42 months period. They claim this because in verse 14 of this chapter, the singular "place" is used for protection of some of the people of God for 42 months, or time, times, and half a time. BUT.....we have seen the SINGULAR "place" is used in verse 6. And verse 6 in the story flow of this history of the true church was 1260 years from 554 - 1844 A.D. And the facts of church history prove without a doubt that God's true people WERE **NOT** in just ONE location for all that length of time. When the Roman Catholic church was reigning supreme during that time period, God's people were in the wilderness of the hills, the valleys, the mountains, ALL OVER EUROPE, BRITAIN, and SOME even in the far Eastern nations, untouched by the Roman Catholic church. The singular word "place" does NOT MEAN in God's protective plan for some of His children, just one specific location on this earth. It did not during those 1260 years and it will not again, when some of the Lord's people will be protected during the last 42 months of this age. Such is the short-sighted reading of the Bible by some, who will not look at the full context and see where God and history prove "place" does not mean one specific geographical wilderness area somewhere on this earth. During that time period of 1260 years (verse 6) the people of God were protected in the wilderness of MANY NATIONS on earth. They went out into the hills, and the forests, the wild out of the way places in their particular country where they lived. The Christian church history books are full of that fact and truth! We are moved forward in verse 7, to a time that is yet ahead of us (as I write in 2007), a time when once more Satan and his demon army will try to unseat the Almighty from His throne in heaven. There will yet be an invisible "star wars" in heaven, Michael and his angels will fight Satan and his army. The Devil will not win, and no place he will have in heaven. He and his army will be cast back down to this earth (verses 7-9). At this time in the history of this planet, John hears a aloud voice in heaven saying: "Now is come salvation, and strength, and the Kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto death. Therefore rejoice you heavens, and you that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and the sea! For the Devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has but a short time" (verses 10-12). Satan may accuse God's children day and night, but we have a High Priest interceding for us day and night. We have the victory through Christ, His blood, and His interceding work. The Devil, after loosing this battle with Michael and the righteous angels, will come to earth, and LOOK OUT as we say. This is the time of the GREAT TRIBULATION spoken about by Jesus, the time when many saints will be killed for their faith. A time when Satan will be allowed through his Holy Roman Empire Beast power to destroy the peoples of Israel and Judah, and kill many true Christians. We are back in the time frame (during this outline of the major events of the true Church of God) of the FIFTH SEAL - of chapter 6. The time frame of the persecution of God's people (see also Jesus' words in Matthew 24:9). To the true church woman was given two wings of the eagle (not literally see Exodus 19:4 and a past happening with similar words - this is not some jet plane flight - Israel did not leave Egypt on a jet plane). She, the true church woman is given protection, she moves to the wilderness once more, into her place (we've talked about the singular "place" above, and it ain't what some want you to believe), where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, for 42 months or three and one half years, during the great tribulation and the day of the Lord. The serpent, the Devil casts out of his mouth (gives command) that his army flood of waters (people - see chapter 17:15), go after the woman, that she might be destroyed by Satan's army. But God is mightier than the Devil, and causes the "earth" (earthquakes or whatever) to swallow up the flood army of men that Satan and his demons control (verses 13-16). The dragon Devil .... he is angry, oh, indeed he is. He is not allowed by God to touch the true church people that are in the wilderness. But, Satan looks around and yes, he sees some of the Lord's people are not in the wilderness, they are not physically protected. They are some of the very same people, ones who KEEP the COMMANDMENTS of God (which the 4th one will make them stand out like a lighthouse on a hill), and have the testimony of Jesus Christ - they will be living as Jesus lived, and that will put a light on top of their lighthouse on a hill. They will stand out, be easily seen and found. Satan is allowed by the Lord to "make war" with the "remnant of her seed." There will be an end-time, persecution and killing of part of the very true Church of God.                 This is not the Jews being talked about in chapter 12, as some teach. The Jews           do not have the testimony of Jesus Christ - they reject Christ!                    This story flow of the major history of the True Church of God,           has brought us to the 5th SEAL or the killing of more saints of God,           before the visible return of Christ our Lord.  Some of the people of God will find and be granted protection during the last 42 months of this age. Some will not be granted protection and will have to give their lives up for the faith once delivered to the saints.   You are NOT a less Christian, or an unworthier Christian because you are not protected, but are chosen to die for THE faith. The apostle Paul died for THE faith, so did the apostle Peter, so did Stephen (Acts 6:8-15; 7:54-60) so did James (Acts 12:1-2). If you have to die for THE faith you will be in GOOD COMPANY, VERY GOOD COMPANY INDEED! .................... To be continued